Term right to work Definition: A law preventing employers from making union membership a condition of employment. In other words, your boss can't forced you to join a union if you don't want to. There are two sides to this argument. On the one hand, workers should have the freedom to join a union or not based on the benefit to had from the union and perhaps their philosophical orientation towards unions. On the other hand, unions gain their strength by representing workers. Its negotiating position is hurt if it represents only a fraction of the workers. Moreover, any benefits a union gets for workers are enjoyed by its members (who pay dues) as well as nonmembers (who don't pay dues).